James Ravilious documentary

The documentary on James Ravilious that is on you tube has just been brought to my attention. I have just enjoyed watching it, and was struck by the progression from being asked to ‘take a few photos’ of the area, as the Arts centre believed that the rural way of life was threatened, that then became a 19 year plus project. Over that time James Ravilious took some 80,000 photos. I also thought that whilst this seems a lot if is actually under 4,000 per year – a number that many seem proud to exceed by huge margins in these days – this works out to less than half a roll of film per day. Unlike ‘many’ he has left a lasting legacy in his record of the life of the area over that time – somehting of great value in my view.

There was another comment in the documentary that I was thankful for – it was observed that monochrome solves the prblem of green in portraying the english countryside. I was actually relieved to hear someone else comment on this as I have had the ‘green’ problem for many years and was beginning to think it was just me…

If you haven’t seen it then I recommend the video if you have half an hour.